This invention also recognizes that the fundamental unit of future local electric power production will be the fuel cell powered vehicle or car. Since the car is a ubiquitous part of everyday life and always with its driver, the unique characteristics of the fuel cell powered car make it the perfect candidate as a clean local power generation source. In the above patent, the inventors uniquely recognized that the need for electricity literally follows the human around in society. Wherever the human goes, his/her demand for electricity follows. The demand for electricity does not just change with time of day and season, but is literally the movement and location and purpose of humans. And because the car is always a part of where a human goes, this invention combines the human's constant need to move around (transportation), with the human's consequent need for electricity (power production) once the human arrives at his/her destination.
Some new cars contain fuel cell power plants as their prime motive power. The electrical energy generated by these fuel cells energize an electric motor or motors thus propelling the car. Natural gas, hydrogen, or other light gaseous hydrocarbon bearing fuels can be used to provide a fuel input to the fuel cells. Propane, digester or biogas as well as gasoline or other fuels, such as water, that can be processed through a cracking process to produce hydrogen are candidate fuels for the fuel cell.
This invention claims methods and apparatus and utilizes fuel cell powered vehicles or cars to not only generate electrical energy for motion, but when at rest or parked in a parking lot, the fuel cells can be energized and its energy harnessed and focused through an electric power grid so as to provide electrical power for local or distant use.
Traditional combustion engine power plants in cars can also be used to provide extremely limited or nominal amounts of alternating current (A.C.) electrical power through an inverter. Still relatively small amounts of direct current (D.C.) electrical power are produced by these cars, typically utilized to sustain the electrical needs of the car and its accessories. However, it is difficult to obtain useful electrical power from these engines: their low conversion efficiency, their need for cooling by their generated air flow during locomotion, and pollution emissions make them not a candidate nor designed for meaningful power generation. They are designed to be a device purely for the purpose of locomotion. Fuel cells on the other hand have high conversion efficiencies, relatively low emissions, and can be run continuously without the mechanical problems normally encountered with running combustion engines for long periods of time. Fuel cell powered vehicles have an unrecognized and untapped potential.
The prior invention, given the name "Power Park" uniquely capitalizes on the fuel cell powered car as a modular, mobile energy source. A unique feature of this invention is to transform the car or other vehicle from a single use device (i.e. transportation) to a dual use device; one that still provides transportation but also and importantly provides electrical power.
Load as utilized in this patent and claims may include but are not limited to a building, infrastructure to a building, home, grouping of homes, industrial or commercial complex, greenhouse, systems such as the electric utility grid, telephone system/s, cable system/s, catenary system for electric trains, electric utility grid component, electrical control panel or device, energy transforming or inverting device, electric tools such as compressor, motor, motor driven compressor for air compression tools, and any device to include energy storage devices. Energy storage devices may include but are not limited to batteries, capacitors, fly wheels, or pumped hydro storage.